Tracking activity data between wearable devices paired with a companion device

ABSTRACT

A set of wearable devices, each paired with a companion device, are configured to cumulatively maintain data about physical activities even though a user may switch between wearing them over a period of time. For example, a streak of workouts over many days can be maintained while the user switches between two watches over that period of time.

This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/188,054 filed on Jun. 21, 2016.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments described herein relate to an accessory such as a watchor a fitness tracker or an audio accessory or a visual accessory for acompanion device such as a smartphone or other type of data processingsystem.

A watch or other accessory can be configured to work with a dataprocessing system such as a smartphone or tablet computer; for example,a watch can be paired, typically through Bluetooth wirelesscommunication, with a companion device to provide health trackingfunctions and potentially other capabilities. For example, an Applewatch or a fitness device, can gather health data through one or moresensors, and then transmit this health data to the companion devicewhich can be a data processing system such as a smartphone or tabletcomputer or laptop computer, etc. This health data can provideinformation that relates to a streak of a physical activity such as astreak of several consecutive days in which a user, who has worn theaccessory, has moved (e.g. walked) more than a predetermined distance(e.g. over one mile) each day. Thus, the accessory can keep track ofsuch a streak while the user wears the accessory over a period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a set of wearable devices, each configured (e.g.through a Bluetooth pairing) to operate with one or more companiondevices, are configured to cumulatively maintain data about one or morephysical activities (e.g. a streak of consecutive work out days) eventhough a user may switch between wearing them over a period of time. Forexample, a streak of many consecutive days of workouts can be maintainedwhile a user switches between a set of two or more watches or otherwearable devices.

A method in one embodiment can include: collecting data about physicalactivity (e.g., standing or moving or working out, etc.) using one ormore sensors on a wearable device while the wearable device is in afirst worn state; storing a value (e.g., a streak's counter value) onthe wearable device based on the collected data, wherein the valueindicates an aspect (e.g. duration) of a physical activity event;transmitting the value to a companion device (e.g., a paired smartphone)to store the value on the companion device; ceasing collection of dataabout physical activity while the wearable device is in an unworn state;after the unworn state and while the wearable device is in a second wornstate: resuming collection of data about physical activity using the oneor more sensors and receiving a value from the companion device, thevalue from the companion device derived from data collected by anotherwearable device and indicating the aspect of the physical activityevent; comparing the value on the wearable device to the value receivedfrom the companion device and determining a merged value based on thecomparison; and storing the merged value as the value on the wearabledevice. In one embodiment, the value is a counter value (e.g. a value ofthe number of consecutive days of a physical activity event such as nconsecutive days of standing for at least 60 minutes, etc.), and thecounter value is incremented by the wearable device in the first wornstate in response to the collection of data, wherein the incrementingindicates that the duration of the physical activity event has increasedbased upon data collected by the one or more sensors. In one embodiment,the method can also include: notifying a user of an achievement based onthe duration exceeding an achievement goal. The method can also include,in one embodiment, removing duplicate notifications of an achievement,and notifying a user of the achievement based on the aspect exceeding anachievement goal, wherein the removal of duplicate notificationsprevents a second notification of the achievement. In one embodiment,the counter value counts a streak of physical activity event (e.g. astreak of standing over 60 minutes each day) and the method can alsoinclude resetting the counter value to an initial value (e.g. zero) whenthe determining of the merged value indicates that the streak wasbroken. In one embodiment, the physical activity event has an associatedtype (e.g. streak type or best type or first seen type, etc.), and thedetermination of the merged value uses a merger strategy that is basedon the associated type, and wherein the merger strategy is one of:largest value wins for streaks and best; smallest value wins for firstseen values; or remote wins for streak resets. In one embodiment, thewearable device is a watch or an audio accessory or a visual accessoryand the one or more sensors include one or more of: an accelerometer; agyroscope, a heart rate sensor; a pulse rate sensor, etc. In oneembodiment, the wearable device ceases the collection of data when it isnot being worn (or is turned off/shut down), and the another wearabledevice may be worn when the wearable device is not being worn, and thewearable device resumes collection of data when it is worn again.

In one embodiment, a first wearable device includes: one or moresensors; a display; a memory; a radio transceiver configured towirelessly communicate with a companion device; and a processing systemcoupled to the one or more sensors and to the display and to the memoryand to the radio transceiver. The processing system is configured toreceive through the radio transceiver during a second time period afirst value from the companion device, the first value having beenderived from data collected by a second wearable device during a firsttime period that precedes the second time period. The first valueindicates an aspect (e.g., duration or streak) of a physical activityevent that is defined by data collected by the one or more sensors andis compared to a second value stored in the memory. The processingsystem is configured to determine a merged value based on the comparisonand is configured to store the merged value in the memory. In oneembodiment, each of the first wearable device and the second wearabledevice is one of: a watch or an audio accessory (e.g. headphones orearbud, etc.) or a visual accessory (e.g. smart glasses) or a clothingor other wearable item, and the first wearable device and the secondwearable device may be the same type of device (e.g. they are bothwatches) or they may be different types of devices (e.g., one may be awatch and the other is a wearable audio accessory or an optical headmounted display). In one embodiment, each of the first and the secondwearable devices is configured to communicate with a companion device;for example, each may be paired through a Bluetooth pairing process withthe companion device. In one embodiment, the methods and devicesdescribed herein can be performed with more than two wearable devicescollecting data about physical activity, each of those wearable devicesbeing configured to communicate with at least one companion device. Inone embodiment, the one or more sensors comprises one or more:accelerometer; a gyroscope; a heart rate sensor; a pulse sensor; etc. Inone embodiment, the set of wearable devices (e.g. first and second)cumulatively count the streak across both time periods to provide anaccurate count of the streak even though neither is worn during theentirety of the streak.

In another embodiment, a method performed by a wearable device caninclude the following operations: receiving, at the wearable device in afirst worn state, a first value from a companion device, wherein thefirst value indicates an aspect (e.g. duration of streak) of a physicalactivity event and the first value was derived from data collected byone or more sensors of another wearable device in a prior worn stateoccurring at a time different from and prior to the first worn state;comparing the first value to a second value stored on the wearabledevice; determining a merged value based on the comparison; and storingthe merged value on the wearable device. In one embodiment, the mergedvalue is a counter value which counts a duration of a streak, and thewearable device and the another wearable device cumulatively count thestreak, with the assistance of the companion device, across both theprior worn state and the first worn state. In one embodiment, the methodcan also include incrementing the counter value on the wearable devicein response to the collection of data, the incrementing indicating thatthe duration of the physical activity event has increased (e.g., thestreak of consecutive days of exercising at least 30 minutes each dayhas been extended to 4 days). In one embodiment, the method can alsoinclude notifying a user of an achievement based on the durationexceeding an achievement goal and can also include removing duplicatenotifications of an achievement wherein the removal of duplicatenotifications prevents a second notification of the same achievement. Inone embodiment, the method can also include resetting the counter valueto an initial value (e.g. zero) when the determining of the merged valueindicates a streak was broken.

The methods and systems described herein can be implemented by dataprocessing systems, such as one or more watches, audio accessories,visual accessories and other wearable devices operating in conjunctionwith a set of one or more companion devices. The methods and systemsdescribed herein can also be implemented one or more data processingsystems which execute executable computer program instructions, storedon one or more non-transitory machine readable media that cause the oneor more data processing systems to perform the one or more methodsdescribed herein. Thus, the embodiments described herein includemethods, data processing systems, and non-transitory machine readablemedia.

The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all embodimentsin this disclosure. All systems and methods can be practiced from allsuitable combinations of the various aspects and embodiments summarizedabove, and also those disclosed in the Detailed Description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereferences indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a set of devices which includes a companiondevice (e.g., a smartphone) and two paired watches, one or which isactive (collecting data about physical activity) and the other which isinactive (and not collecting data about physical activity).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a wearable accessory(e.g. a watch) for a companion device.

FIG. 3 shows a set of paired watches which communicate with a companiondevice to allow the companion device to perform a switch between thewatches and to allow the watches to cumulatively record physicalactivity even across switches between the watches.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart which shows a method, in one embodiment, forcollecting data for a streak of a physical activity event.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram of components of a wearable device thatcollects and processes data for one or more physical activity events.

FIG. 5B shows an example of memories for storing values relating tophysical activities such as streaks of such physical activities.

FIG. 6A shows a flowchart that illustrates a method, in one embodiment,for managing data about physical activity events across switches betweenwearable accessories such as a switch between two watches.

FIG. 6B is a flowchart that depicts a method, in one embodiment,performed by a wearable device before and after a switch betweenwearable devices while continuing to maintain data about physicalactivity events across the switch.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart that shows a method, in one embodiment, performedby a companion device that supports cumulative tracking of streaks, etc.of physical activities across switches between wearable devices.

FIG. 8 is a table which shows examples of merger strategies for decidinghow to merge two values to yield a final merged value that representsthe streak or other aspect of a physical activity event being counted bya set of wearable devices working in conjunction with a companiondevice.

FIG. 9A is a diagram that shows, according to one embodiment, how twoswitches between watches is managed with the watches and the companiondevice to cumulatively count a streak across the entire time from thebeginning of streak.

FIG. 9B is a diagram that shows, according to one embodiment, a streakbeing reset.

FIG. 9C is a diagram that shows a companion device correcting a streakbased on stored data on the companion device.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example of a data processing systemthat can be used to implement or perform one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments and aspects will be described with reference todetails discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustratethe various embodiments. The following description and drawings areillustrative and are not to be construed as limiting. Numerous specificdetails are described to provide a thorough understanding of variousembodiments. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to provide a concise discussion ofembodiments.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the sameembodiment. The processes depicted in the figures that follow areperformed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g. circuitry,dedicated logic, etc.), software, or a combination of both. Although theprocesses are described below in terms of some sequential operations, itshould be appreciated that some of the operations described may beperformed in a different order. Moreover, some operations may beperformed in parallel rather than sequentially.

The embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods forswitching between wearable accessories of a companion device, where theaccessories can be, for example, watches that have been paired with thecompanion device to allow for wireless communication such as wirelesscommunication through Bluetooth between each of the watches and thecompanion device. It will be appreciated that the accessories may bewatches or other devices, such as GPS trackers, fitness trackers,wearable audio accessories (such as a headphone or earbuds), wearablevisual accessory (such as a head mounted display), wearable jewelry orbelt or bracelet or clothing, and other accessories that can operatewith a companion device. Thus, even though the following descriptionfocuses on watches, the embodiments can include other types of devicesor wearable accessories.

FIG. 1 shows a companion device 12 which can be paired with a pluralityof accessories, such as the watches 14 and 16. The pairing process canbe a conventional Bluetooth pairing operation as is known in the art.The companion device 12 can be a smartphone or a tablet computer or alaptop computer or other consumer electronic device that can be pairedwith the multiple accessories. As shown in FIG. 1, the watch 14 is beingworn by the user and is currently on the user's wrist 10. The watch 16and the companion device 12 can be both near the user. For example, thecompanion device 12 can be in the user's shirt pocket or next to theuser. Similarly, the watch 16, which includes straps 17A and 17B toattach to the user's wrist, can be adjacent to the user. The proximityof the devices allows the Bluetooth radio systems which are used in oneembodiment to communicate as all three devices are within Bluetoothrange of each other. In one embodiment, the user can have the companiondevice 12 in a pocket or briefcase or purse or on a desk while the userremoves the watch 14 and places the watch 16 on the wrist 10. As isdescribed further below, the watches 14 and 16 can be transmittingsignals that indicate on-wrist confidence levels to the companion devicewhich can then automatically decide that the watches have been switched(based on the signals indicating on-wrist confidence levels) so that thewatch 16 should now be made the active watch and the watch 14, which wasthe active watch while it was on-wrist, will now be made the inactivewatch. Further information about methods for automatic switching betweenwearable devices is provided in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/276,923, filed Jan. 10, 2016, which is incorporated herein byreference. In other embodiments, the wearable accessories can bemanually switched. Before describing further details about the variousembodiments discussed herein, an overview of the hardware of anaccessory, such as a watch, will be provided in conjunction with FIG. 2.

The watch 201 in FIG. 2 can include one or more processors 203 which arecoupled through one or more buses 204 as is known in the art to the restof the components of the watch. Those additional components can includeone or more sensors 206, a touch screen display 205 which both displaysimages to the user and also can receive touch inputs on the screen ofthe display as is known in the art. In addition, the watch 201 caninclude a Bluetooth radio system 207 and a WiFi radio system 208. Thewatch 201 also includes one or more memories 210 which can include flashmemory, DRAM memory and ROM memory as is known in the art. Thesememories can store data, such as wrist states and can also storeexecutable computer program instructions which can cause the watch tooperate as described herein. In addition, the watch 201 can includeaudio input/output 209 such as a microphone and one or more speakers209. The sensors 206 can include one or more accelerometers or motiondetectors or orientation detectors or gyroscopes or other sensors whichcan sense physical activity such as standing or moving or exercising,etc. The sensors 206 can also include sensors that sense a proximity toa wrist or sense reflections from a wrist, such as LED based sensorsthat generate LED light and then sense reflected LED light that has beenreflected by the wrist's skin. The sensors can also include one or moreof: heart rate sensors, perspiration sensors or other sensors of auser's biological state. These sensors can be used as described hereinto determine the on-wrist state or on-wrist confidence level which thencan be transmitted to a companion device, such as the companion device12 shown in FIG. 1. The sensors can be also used to sense physicalactivity of the user. It will be appreciated that other types of sensorscan also (or alternatively) be used such as a sensor in a buckle todetect removal of a watch; see for example published PCT ApplicationPCT/US2014/014151 (International Publication No. WO 2015/116163). Thewatch 201 can represent the hardware and software architecture ofwatches 14 and 16 in FIG. 1 or watches 251 and 253 shown in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a set of devices 250 can include a companiondevice 255, a watch 251, and a watch 253. The watch 251 is the currentlyactive paired watch while the watch 253 is the inactive paired watch.The active paired watch is shown on the user's wrist 2 while theinactive paired watch may be in the user's purse or pocket or on a tablenext to the user. A companion device 255 may be in the user's pocket orpurse or briefcase or near the user on a table which is near the user.In the example shown in FIG. 3, the watches 251 and 253 are within radiorange for the Bluetooth systems that are contained within each of thewatches 251 and 253 and also within the companion device 255. In oneembodiment, the companion device 255 can be a smartphone or tabletcomputer or laptop computer or other consumer electronic device. Whilethe watch 251 is within Bluetooth radio range of companion device 255,the watch 251 can repeatedly transmit one or more wrist state valuesindicating an on-wrist confidence level of the watch 251. Thesetransmissions can occur using an encrypted communication protocol whichoperates on top of the Bluetooth communication system and utilizes theBluetooth communication system. While the watch 253 is within Bluetoothradio range of the companion 255, one or more wrist state values can betransmitted by the watch 253. In one embodiment, these transmissions canoccur through Bluetooth advertisements which can include an advertisingidentifier as well as the wrist state value determined by the watch 253based upon data from the one or more sensors in watch 253, such as oneor more sensors 206.

In one embodiment, the wrist state can have four possible values shownas zero, low, medium, and high. Zero represents a state in which thesensors provide outputs from which the watch determines that it is noton the user's wrist. The low value indicates a low on-wrist confidencelevel. The medium value indicates a medium on-wrist confidence level,and the high value indicates a high on-wrist confidence vale. In oneembodiment, a combination of data from different sensors can be used toderive the on-wrist confidence level. In one embodiment, data from anaccelerometer may indicate the raising or lowering of a wrist and datafrom sensors to detect reflected or absorbed light from the user's skin(or other body part) on the user's wrist can be combined together toderive the different wrist states such as the four wrist states. It willbe appreciated that other types of sensors may also be used either aloneor in combination. For example, a clasp detector (e.g. a detector on thewatch's buckle) or detectors used to detect a pulse or heart rate canalso be used.

The wrist state value can be computed in a variety of different waysbased upon one or more outputs from one or more sensors such as sensors206 in FIG. 2. In one embodiment that uses one or more sensors (e.g. anaccelerometer) to detect the raising and lowering of the wrist and alsouses one or more sensors to detect radiation reflected off of (orabsorbed by) the wrist, such as the wrist's skin (which can be referredto as a wrist detection by a wrist detector sensor), the wrist statevalue can be derived as follows. This approach uses a combination ofsensors that repeatedly over time produce outputs and these outputs areused to determine the wrist state value. When the accelerometer detectsthe raising or lowering of the wrist after the wrist detector senses thewrist's skin (or other body part such as blood) then the wrist statevalue is set to high. When the wrist detector senses the wrist's skin(or other part) but the accelerometer has not detected a wrist raised orlowered in a period of time (for example, the last 6 seconds), then thewrist state value is set to medium. When the accelerometer detects awrist raise or lowering which occurred in the last period of time, suchas the last 6 seconds, but the wrist detector does not sense the skin(or other body part) of the wrist, then the wrist state value is set tolow. The value of zero for the wrist state is set if the accelerometerdoes not detect a wrist raise or lower in the last period of time, suchas the last 6 seconds and the wrist detector does not sense the wrist'sskin (or other body part). These wrist values can be repeatedlydetermined over time and will most likely change if the user removes oneon-wrist watch and replaces it with another. In one embodiment, anadditional wrist state value may be provided based upon a detected touchof the watch's touch screen or other detected user interaction with thewatch. If this detection (e.g. of a finger on the touch screen) occursin combination with the detections that produced the high wrist statevalue then the system can produce this additional wrist state valuewhich can be characterized as extra high. It will also be appreciatedthat in other embodiments, “gestures” or wrist movements other thanraising or lowering can be used such as shaking or twisting of thewrist, etc.

In one embodiment, the companion device, such as companion device 255can repeatedly over time scan for wrist state values from at leastinactive paired watches, in addition to receiving wrist state valuesfrom the active paired watch. In one embodiment, the companion devicemay not always scan for watches; for example, in one embodiment, if thewrist state value for the active watch is continually high indicatingthe watch has a high on-wrist confidence level, the companion device maynot scan for other watches. In particular, the companion device can beconfigured to scan when the active watch is connected as the activewatch with the medium or lower confidence level, but if the active watchis connected with higher than a medium confidence level then thecompanion device may be configured to not scan for multiple watches.This can help to conserve battery power on the companion device if thecompanion device is powered by a battery.

Once a companion device determines that a switch between wearableaccessories has occurred, the companion device can attempt to perform a“last chance” synchronization with the wearable accessory that has justbeen removed and also perform a synchronization with the wearableaccessory (“new wearable accessory”) that has just been attached to (orotherwise worn by) the user. This synchronization process can allow forthe “new” wearable accessory to obtain up to date information abouthealth and fitness from the companion device in one embodiment.Switching between wearable accessories can however pose problems formeasuring or counting physical activity, such as a streak of severalconsecutive days of exercising more than a desired goal, when a portionof the streak is performed on a first wearable device or accessory andanother portion is performed on another wearable device or accessory.The embodiments described herein provide methods and system formaintaining data about one or more physical activity events that span atime period in which one or more switches, between a set of wearabledevices, occurred. In one embodiment, the set of wearable devices andthe companion device (or set of companion devices) are configured tocumulatively and cooperatively maintain such data through asynchronization process that merges data based upon the types of data ormerger strategies.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a method in one embodiment which can be usedby a wearable device while it is worn to collect data about physicalactivity and keep track of one or more streaks relating to the physicalactivity. In one embodiment, the wearable device when it is worn by theuser is typically the active wearable device in a set of wearabledevices such as a set of smart watches. An example of a smart watch isthe Apple Watch from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. That watch can keeptrack of physical activities, such as standing or moving or exercisingor calories burned in a day, etc. Moreover, that watch can providenotifications of achievements reached relative to one or more goals setfor each category or type of physical activity events. The physicalactivity is tracked by collecting data about the physical activity fromone or more sensors in operation 401 of FIG. 4. The one or more sensorscan include one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, one ormore heart rate sensors, and potentially other sensors which areconfigured to collect data about movement and biological parameterswhich are indicative of physical activity, such as standing moving,exercising, etc. The process of collecting such data and analyzing suchdata to derive information about such physical activity is known in theart. The collective data is analyzed and processed in order to determinewhether or not specific goals have been achieved in operation 403. Eachphysical activity event may have its own goal, and thus operation 403 isperformed for each physical activity event separately. For example, whenthe physical activity event is standing for at least a predeterminednumber of minutes each day, operation 403 would evaluate the data fromthe sensors to determine whether or not for a given day the user stoodfor at least the predetermined minutes. If the goal was not achievedthen operation 404 would follow in which the counter for thecorresponding streak is reset to zero and processing returns tooperation 401 to continue collecting data. On the other hand, if thegoal was achieved for a particular time period such as one day, thenoperation 405 follows operation 403. In operation 405, the counter forthe particular streak is incremented. For example, if the prior valuefor a standing streak is three days and the standing goal was achievedin the current day, then operation 405 would increment the counter fromthree days to four days and store the incremented value of four days asthe streak value for the standing activity event. The wearable devicecan then in operation 407 determine whether any achievements have beenobtained such as an achievement of standing for 10 consecutive days formore than a predetermined number of minutes for each day. Operation 407can also be performed for each of the different physical activityevents, including for example a standing goal, a move goal, an exercisegoal, a goal with respect to calories burnt each day, etc. If operation407 determines that an achievement was obtained, then operation 408occurs in which the wearable device can provide a notice to the user ofthe achievement. In one embodiment, the wearable device itself providesthe notice to the user while in another embodiment the companion devicecan provide the notice, and in yet another embodiment, both the wearabledevice and the companion device can provide the notice of theachievement to the user. At some point during the method shown in FIG.4, the wearable device can synchronize with the companion device inorder to provide information about health and fitness including theachievements obtained and information about the data collected aboutphysical activities, etc. The synchronization can be performed inoperation 409 which can follow operation 407. It will be appreciatedthat the order of the operations shown in FIG. 4 is a sequence performedin one embodiment and that in alternative embodiments, the order may bevaried to perform the operations in a different sequence. In oneembodiment, the method shown in FIG. 4 is performed when the wearabledevice is being worn and is considered an active device relative to thecompanion device. Moreover, the wearable device will cease performingthe operations shown in FIG. 4 when it is not worn in one embodiment.For example, when the wearable device is not worn, it will not collectdata about physical activity or attempt to determine whether goals havebeen achieved or whether any achievements have been obtained and willnot synchronize with the companion device. In this embodiment, when thewearable device is not worn, it can be in a sleep state or a shut downstate.

FIG. 5A shows an example of components or modules within a wearabledevice which can perform the method shown in FIG. 4 as well as themethods shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B and FIGS. 9A-9C. The wearable device500 can include a set of sensors 501 such as a set of accelerometers,gyroscopes, heart rate sensors, etc. The sensors 501 can be similar tothe sensors 206 shown in FIG. 2. Data output from these sensors can beprovided in one embodiment to sensor software 503 or sensor processinglogic which can process the data output from sensors 501 to create thedata 505 which is data relating to physical activity events, such asminutes that the user has stood or exercised or moved during the periodof time as well as calories burned during a period of time. In oneembodiment, the sensor software 503 can be configured to periodicallysample sensors 501 and generate data based on the output from thesensors every X minutes, where X can be, for example, 15 minutes. Thedata 505 can then be provided to the activity summary manager 507 whichcombines the new samples of data 505 with the cumulative samples(previously obtained from the sensor software 503) in order to create adaily summary such as a summary for today's activity and a summary foryesterday's activity. In one embodiment, the activity summary manager507 may be implemented by one or more software components or one or morehardware processing logic components configured by the software. Theactivity summary manager 507 causes the storage of the activitysummaries in the health database 508. In one embodiment, the healthdatabase 508 can include counters for storing streaks, such as thestreak counters shown in FIG. 5B. Data from the activity summary manager507 can be provided in one embodiment to the achievement manager 509. Inone embodiment, when the values in the different activity summariescreated by the activity summary manager 507 change, then the achievementmanager 507 can run to determine whether or not modifications should bemade to streaks, such as counter values in streak counters or whetherstreaks need to be reset or incremented. In one embodiment, theachievement manager 509 can perform operations 403, 405, 404, and 407and 408 shown in FIG. 4. The achievement manager 509 in one embodimentcan update the streaks by either resetting or incrementing the streakvalues in each streak counter. FIG. 5B shows examples of several streakcounters for various goals, each which can be reset or incrementeddepending on data about physical activity provided by sensors, such assensors 501. In particular, the set of streak counters can include astreak counter 521 and a streak counter 523 which can each be separatelyreset or incremented depending on the operations performed in, forexample, the method shown in FIG. 4. The streak counters can be storedin the health database 508 along with data for calories burned, such ascounter 527 which can count the calories burned over the day or othertime period. In one embodiment, data from the health database, includingthe counter values in the streak counters and other health values,including calories burned in a time period are synchronized for thecompanion device; for example, the counter values in the streak counters521 and 523 as well as the counter value in memory 527 can besynchronized in operation 409 by transmitting these values to thecompanion device during a synchronization operation.

Methods performed by a wearable device, such as a watch, to properlymaintain streak data (and other data relating to physical events) acrossswitches between wearable devices will now be described with referenceto FIGS. 6A and 6B. These wearable devices assumed to have performed amethod shown in FIG. 4 in one embodiment and can use the componentsshown in FIGS. 5A and 5B to perform the method of FIG. 4. The methodshown in FIG. 6A focuses on what happens when a “new” watch is worn, andit may be that the watch is in fact new and not previously worn or itmay have been previously worn but has not been worn recently. The methodshown in FIG. 6B shows a process performed by a wearable device bothbefore and after a switch for that wearable device.

The method shown in FIG. 6A can begin in operation 601 in which a “new”watch receives counter values from a companion device, such as asmartphone and stores the counter values in an “inbox” and also receivesachievement data and activity data from the companion device in oneembodiment. Then in operation 603, an activity summary manager can runon the new watch to process the activity data locally obtained on thewatch. In addition, an achievement engine on the watch can run todetermine local counter values and derive data such as best caloriesburned to determine whether there are newly earned achievements.Operation 603 can be performed in one embodiment in order to createlocal data on the watch prior to performing any comparisons or mergersin operations 605 and 607 respectively. For example, a watch performingthe method of FIG. 6A may be worn for a considerable time period beforereceiving values from a companion device 601; thus there may be physicalactivity which has occurred prior to receiving values from the companiondevice in operation 601 and thus local values of the watch need to beupdated, in one embodiment, by the activity summary manager and theachievement engine prior to performing the comparison operation 605 orthe merger operation 607. In operation 605, the wearable devicecompares, from each category, the local counter value or other localderived value on the watch to the corresponding value in the inbox. Thevalues stored in the inbox were received from the companion device inoperation 601 and are compared, for each category, to a local countervalue or other local derived value created in operation 605. The resultof the comparison for each category will determine a merged value inoperation 607 which is based upon the appropriate merger strategy foreach category. In particular, operation 607 merges the local value withthe corresponding value in the inbox to create a merged value which issaved in operation 609. For example, if the local value for a standingstreak is zero and corresponding value in the inbox for the standingstreak is three, the value of three will be saved as the merged valuefor the standing streak because the merger strategy for a streak, whichis a type of event, is: the largest value in the comparison “wins” andis selected as the merged value. If on the other hand it appears thatthe streak was broken because the corresponding value in the inboxindicates that the streak was reset then, the merger strategy is thatthe remote wins which in this case is the value from the companiondevice which was transmitted in operation 601 thereby causing the streakto be reset to zero in one embodiment. The merged values which are savedin operation 609 become the various new counter values for the variousstreaks and other physical activity events on the wearable device andthose merged values will continue to be processed in one embodimentaccording to the method shown in FIG. 4 and using the components shownin FIG. 5A to continue the process of maintaining the health data,including the streaks and achievements on the wearable device. Themethod shown in FIG. 6A can be repeated each time the wearable deviceperforms a synchronization with the companion device while it remainsthe active watch.

The method shown in FIG. 6A can also include an optional operation 611which can remove duplicate achievements if a prior watch (or thecompanion device in one embodiment) has already given the user a noticeof a particular achievement. Further details with respect to the removalof duplicate achievements will be provided further below.

A method performed by a particular watch before and after a switchbetween watches is shown in FIG. 6B. This method can begin in operation621 in which the wearable device, such as a watch, collects data aboutphysical activity using one or more sensors on the wearable device whileit is in a first worn state. Then in operation 623, the wearable devicestores a set of one or more values on the wearable device based on thedata which was collected in operation 621. The one or more values canindicate an aspect, such as a duration of a streak, of the physicalactivity. In one embodiment, operation 621 and 623 can be repeated overtime; for example operations 621 and 623 can be repeated every 15minutes to obtain and store the data from the sensors and to derive theset of one or more values based upon that data. In one embodiment,current samples collected every 15 minutes are added to cumulativesamples to determine, for example, how many calories have been burned sofar in a particular day or how many minutes of standing have beenperformed by the user in a particular day or how many minutes ofexercise or moving have been performed in a particular day, etc. Inoperation 625 the wearable device can transmit the set of one or morevalues to a companion device to store the set on the companion device.In one embodiment, the transmission operation 625 can be performedrepeatedly over time whenever the companion device is in radio range(e.g., Bluetooth radio range) of the wearable device. The transmissionoperation 625 can be part of a synchronization operation which can beperformed repeatedly over time between the wearable device and thecompanion device. It will be appreciated that in one embodimentoperation 623 can use the activity summary manager 507 and theachievement manager 509 to update today's activity summary and theyesterday's activity summary as well as to update achievements such asachievements of streaks and other information which is stored in ahealth database, such as health database 508. Returning back to FIG. 6B,in operation 627, the wearable device ceases collection of data aboutphysical activity while the wearable device is in an unworn state. Inone embodiment, a switch has occurred and the user has taken thewearable device off and is using another wearable device which can alsobe collecting health data from one or more sensors and performing theoperations shown in FIG. 4 and use similar components such as thecomponents shown in FIG. 5A. In one embodiment, the wearable devicewhich performed operations 621 through 625 can be in a shutdown state ora sleep state while it is not worn by the user. The other wearabledevice which may be worn by the user can continue to collect data aboutphysical activity such as standing streaks or moving streaks, etc. sothat the streaks may be maintained after the switch and after thewearable device is worn again which occurs in operation 631 in which thewearable device now resumes collection of data about physical activityusing the one or more sensors because it has become worn again and isnow in a second worn state. This is indicated by block 629 whichindicates that operations 631 through 639 are performed after the unwornstate and while the wearable device is in a second worn state. Operation631 can be similar to operation 621 and the components shown in FIG. 5Acan be used to collect the data and to process the data to determinevalues for the one or more streaks and other physical activity eventsbased upon the collected data. In operation 633, the wearable devicereceives a set of one or more values from the companion device, wherethe received set includes data relating to a set of physical activityevents, such as the streaks tracked by the other wearable device whichgenerated the values and then provided them to the companion devicewhich later transmitted those values to the wearable device so that theycould be received in operation 633. Then in operation 635, the value fora particular physical activity event on the wearable device is comparedto the value for the corresponding physical activity event received fromthe companion device. In one embodiment, prior to performing thecomparison in operation 635, the wearable device can perform anoperation similar to operation 603 in order to calculate or derive acurrent local value on the wearable device. Then in operation 637, thewearable device can then determine a merged value for each physicalactivity event based upon the comparison. Operation 637 can be similarto operation 607 shown in FIG. 6A and can use a merger strategy for eachtype of event in order to determine the appropriate merged value for theevent. FIG. 8 shows an example of a set of merger strategies fordifferent types of events such as streaks or bests or streak resets,etc. After each merged value for a particular physical activity event ortype of event is determined in operation 637, it can be saved or storedas the merged value on the wearable device in operation 639. The storingof the merged value creates the current counter value or other value forthe physical activity event which is then used in further processing onthe wearable device such as the processing operations shown in themethod of FIG. 4. For example, the merged value stored in operation 639is used in future processing using, in one embodiment, the method ofFIG. 4 in the wearable device which can increment the streak or resetthe streak depending upon the collected data from the one or moresensors on the wearable device. In one embodiment, the method shown inFIG. 6B can also include an optional operation similar to operation 611which removes duplicate achievements if the prior or other wearabledevice already gave the user a notice of a particular achievement.Further details with respect to the removal of duplicate achievementswill be provided below.

FIG. 7 shows a method which can be performed by the companion devicewhich in the embodiments described herein act as an intermediary betweenthe set of wearable devices which were switched over time so thatstreaks can be continued to be tracked or maintained over time eventhough the wearable devices are switched over that time. The companiondevice acts as an intermediary in that it stores data received from thewearable devices and can use that data to synchronize the futurewearable device when a switch occurs. In operation 701, the companiondevice receives data for synchronization from a watch or other wearabledevice. A receipt of this data is a result of a transmission from thewearable device, such as operation 625. After receiving the data fromoperation 701, the companion device can then synchronize achievements inoperation 703 and can optionally remove duplicates such as duplicateachievements. The removal of duplicate achievements will be describedfurther below. In operation 705, a companion device then synchronizeskey value pairs by determining merged values for each key, wheredetermination of the merged value uses merger strategies, such as themerger strategy shown in FIG. 8. Then the companion device can performoptional operation 707 in which an achievement correction system is runto correct errors. The achievement correction system relies upon, in oneembodiment, a collection of all data from all wearable devices which areconfigured to collect data for a set of physical activity events.Further information with respect to an achievement correction systemwill be provided below in conjunction with FIG. 9C.

FIG. 8 shows an example of merger strategies according to oneembodiment. A merger strategy specifies how to select values for aparticular category or type of event. For example a streak (such as astreak of consecutive standing days or consecutive exercise days) is onetype of event and the merger strategy for that type of event is toselect the largest value in the comparison to become the merged value.Similarly, the number of calories burned in a day is a “bests” type ofevent and the merger strategy for that type is again to select thelargest value in the set of values. For example, if one watch indicatesthe calories burned are 400 and another indicates the calories burned ina particular day are 500 then the larger value of 500 is selected as themerged value. Streak resets are another type of event and the mergerstrategy in that case is to allow the remote device which transmittedthe synchronization data to win to cause the reset to occur. In oneembodiment, the reset is stored in an activity summary with a numberrepresenting a date and merger strategy is configured to look for themost recent date for a reset. Each reset in one embodiment is specificto a particular goal and an example for how a set of watches can bereset is provided below in conjunction with FIG. 9B. A type of eventknown as a first-seen value has a merger strategy of the smallest winsmeaning that the smallest value is selected when merging two values tocreate the merged value. For example, a first workout date or firstrunning date is an example of a first-seen value, and a watch comparingsuch values will select the smallest date. In one embodiment, everyactivity summary is for a particular day/date in universal coordinatedtime, and this date is turned into a number; thus, smaller numbers areearlier in time.

FIG. 9A shows an example of a companion device, in this case asmartphone, configured to work with two watches, W1 and W2, over aperiod of time shown by timeline 901. The sequence begins with the userwearing watch 1 (W1) on day 1. The watch collects data as the user wearsit, and the watch determines that the user has succeeded in achieving agoal, such as a standing goal or a move goal or an exercise goal forthree days in a row. In particular at day 3, W1 has a counter value of 3shown in counter 903. Synchronization operation 905 can be performed atthis point in time which causes the phone to receive a streak value of 3for the particular streak through the synchronization operation 905.Then a switch 907 occurs to watch W2 and the phone syncs to watch W2 insynchronization operation 909. During synchronization operation 909, thephone provides to watch W2 the streak value or counter value of 3 whichwas obtained from watch W1 during synchronization 905. At the time ofthe synchronization 909, watch 2 had a counter value of 1 for thatphysical activity event, and so the watch W2 compares its local value of1 to the value of 3 received from the phone during synchronizationoperation 909 and selects the larger value because the merger strategyis to select the larger value (“largest wins”). Thus, the counter valuefor the streak on watch W2 becomes 3 as a result of the merger to createthe merged value of 3. After the fourth day, the count is incremented toa value (counter value) of 4 on watch W2. For the next two days, day 5and day 6, a counter value is incremented on each day so that at the endof day 6, the counter value has a value of 6 for the streak, whichindicates that the user has continued to achieve the goal for theparticular category, such as a standing goal of standing for at least 60minutes each day. It will be appreciated that in one embodiment, bothwatch 1 and watch 2 are performing the method shown in FIG. 4 and canuse the components shown in FIG. 5A. Moreover, the method shown in FIG.6A can be performed each time a “new” watch synchronizes with the phone,such as synchronization operations 905, 909, 911, and 914. After day 6,a synchronization operation 911 is performed in which health data,including achievements and streak values are synchronized to the phoneby transmitting those values from the watch W2 to the phone insynchronization operation 911. Then in switch operation 912, the userswitches from wearing watch 2 to wearing watch 1 (W1) and then asynchronization operation 914 occurs in which the phone synchronizes thewatch 1 (W1). At the start of the synchronization process, watch 1 maystill have its counter value of 3 for the streak which was in counter903 during day 3. In certain instances, watch 1 may also have a countervalue of 0 if it updates the counter value as a result of performingoperation 603 to derive a current local value before synchronizing withthe phone in synchronization operation 914. After synchronizationoperation 914, the watch W1 can perform the method shown in FIG. 6A, andin particular can compare the local counter value of 3 to the inboxvalue of 6 for the particular physical activity event which is a streak.In the case of that comparison of 6 to 3, the merger strategy dictatesthat the largest value wins and thus the merged value becomes 6 so watchW1 now has a counter value of 6 for the streak and the streak continuesfor day 7 and day 8. At the end of day 8 the counter value is 8indicating the user has achieved a particular achievement goal for 8consecutive days in a row. Depending on how the watch is configured withgoals, an achievement notice can be provided to a user, etc. Even thoughthere were two switches and multiple synchronizations, the streak wasmaintained over a period of eight days. Without the embodimentsdescribed herein, prior wearable devices in a set of wearable deviceswould not be able to obtain such a streak when the devices are switchedover time.

FIG. 9B shows an example in which a streak is reset for a first watch(W1). The sequence begins with the user wearing watch 1 at day 1. Forsix consecutive days the user achieves the achievement goal and thus thecounter value is 6 in the counter 921. In synchronization operation 923,the watch W1 synchronizes with the phone and transmits the counter valueof 6 for the particular physical activity event for the phone. Then theuser switches watches to now wear watch 2 and watch 1 is no longer worn.The switch 924 can in one embodiment cause the phone to synchronize towatch W2 in synchronization operation 925. In that operation, the watchW2 had a counter value of 0 for the physical activity event and so themerger strategy dictates the merged value of 6 which was received fromwatch W1 in the synchronization operation 923. The user wears the watchW2 the next day but fails to achieve the achievement goal for theparticular physical activity event. For example, if the achievement goalof physical activity event is a standing goal in which the user isrequired to stand for at least a predetermined period of time, the userfailed to do so (e.g. the user was traveling in an airplane). Watch W2and watch W1 in one embodiment will be performing the method shown inFIG. 4 and using the components shown in FIG. 5A on a daily basis in oneembodiment and hence the counter value for the achievement goal will bereset to 0 in watch W2 in reset operation 926. The synchronization tothe phone in synchronization operation 927 causes the counter value of 0(and the date of the reset) to be provided to the phone insynchronization operation 927. The phone can deduce that a reset hasoccurred because it can see that the counter value has changed from 6 to0. In one embodiment, each reset is associated with the date of thereset, and the date can be converted into a number which is describedabove. Switch operation 929 occurs in which the user now changes back towearing watch W1 and no longer wears watch W2. The switch 929 includes asynchronization operation in which the phone syncs to watch W1. Theresult of that synchronization operation is to merge the 0 from watch W2with the counter value of 6 for a reset type of event where the mergerstrategy is that the remote (in this case the phone) wins and thus thecounter value is reset to 0 on the watch W1 in operation 931.

FIG. 9C shows an example of how an achievement correction system can runon the companion device, such as a phone in order to correct errorsshould they arise for a variety of different reasons. The example shownin FIG. 9 begins with the user wearing watch 1 for three days in a rowand then switching to watch 2 after the third day. The user wears watch2 for two consecutive days and then switches back to watch 1 in switch953. The entire period of time 952 from the first to the fifth daysincludes the switch 951 and during that time 952 the phone is notavailable (for example it is in airplane mode or has been shut downduring the entire time 952). Thus, the phone is not able to sync witheither watch during this period of time when a switch 951 occurred.Watch W1 will have a counter value of 3 for a streak while watch 2 willhave a counter value of 2 for the streak. At the time that the userswitches to watch W1 in switch 953 the phone becomes available andperforms a synchronization operation 955 with both watches W1 and W2.The achievement correction system in the phone can detect that thecounter value of 2 and the counter value of 3 have not been previouslysynchronized with the phone and that they appear to be consecutive days,and thus the phone can select the addition of the two counter values toproduce a merge value of 5 in operation 957 for the counter value forthe streak. In one embodiment, the achievement correction system can runat least once each day using all of the data that the phone receivesfrom all of the wearable devices to determine whether any of the countervalues or other values used in the system are incorrect.

In one embodiment, each of the wearable devices and the companion devicemay perform a removal of duplicate achievements if the prior watch (orcompanion device) already gave the user notice of a particularachievement. This is done to minimize the number of notices given to auser in one embodiment. For example, an optional de-duplicationoperation 611 can be performed in the method shown in FIG. 6A andoptional de-duplication performed in operation 703, and a de-duplicationoperation can also be performed after operation 639 in one embodiment. Amethod for performing the removal of duplicate achievements can beperformed in the following manner according to one embodiment.Achievements can have, in one embodiment, four properties relative todetermining whether they are equivalent for the purposes ofde-duplications; these properties include achievement type, workout type(for workout achievements only), value, and date earned. Once the systemhas determined the two achievements are equivalent, the system canselect which one to keep and which one to discard. In one embodiment,one of two de-duplication strategies can be used to pick whichachievement to keep: either select the achievement with the earliestdate earned (and discard the other) or select the achievement with thehighest value (and discard the other). In one embodiment, the latterstrategy of selecting the highest value to keep is used for all types ofachievements except for: first workout of a particular type, move goal200%, 300%, 400%, and 7-workout week. An example of a process forperforming the de-duplication is as follows.

The process is as follows:

1. Determine whether to check value equality for this achievement type(the current type being processed).

2. Determine whether to check date equality for this achievement type,and if so, to what granularity of calendar unit (e.g. should we checkthat the dates are in the same day, week, or month)

3. Compare the properties of these achievements

-   -   1. Type    -   2. (Workout achievements only) Workout type    -   3. Value (if specified)    -   4. Date earned (if specified, down to the specified level of        granularity)

4. If all of those comparisons pass, they are equivalent. Choose ade-duplication strategy (either earliest date earned or highest value)

5. If equivalent, apply the de-duplication strategy to determine whichachievement to keep: either discard the newly added achievement, or savethe newly added achievement and delete the existing achievement in thedatabase.

To determine whether to check the value, whether to check the dateearned, and which de-duplication strategy to pick, the system looks upthe achievement type in a hard-coded list in one embodiment:

De-Duplication Strategy

Pick earliest date earned: First Workout of Type, Move Goal200%/300%/400%, 7-Workout Week

Pick highest value: everything else

Achievement Types Requiring Equal Values

New Move Goal, Perfect Week (Move/Exercise/Stand/All), Move Goal200%/300%/400%, Move Goal Stream

Earned Date Granularity

Day: Best Day (Move/Exercise), Move Goal 200%/300%/400%, Perfect Week(Move/Exercise/Stand/All)

Week: 7-Workout Week

Month: Perfect Month

The various embodiments described herein can be implemented in anarchitecture in which only one watch is permitted to be the activewatch. In an alternative embodiment, the various methods and systemsdescribed herein can be used in an architecture which permits multipleactive paired watches.

In the embodiments described above, the new active watch is synchronizedwith data, such as health data that originated from the prior activewatch, that is provided from the companion device (such as the sidestore on the companion device). In an alternative embodiment, this datacan be provided to the new active watch from a different source, such asa server coupled to a network or directly from the prior active watch.

FIG. 10 shows one example of a data processing system, which may be usedwith any one of the embodiments described herein. Note that while FIG.10 illustrates various components of a data processing system such as acompanion device or a paired accessory, it is not intended to representany particular architecture or manner of interconnecting the componentsas such details are not germane to this description. It will also beappreciated that consumer electronic devices and other data processingsystems which have fewer components or perhaps more components may alsobe used with one or more embodiments described herein.

As shown in FIG. 10, the computer system 1000, which is a form of a dataprocessing system, includes a bus 1003 which is coupled to one or moremicroprocessor(s) 1005 and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1007 and volatileRAM 1009 (e.g. DRAM) and a non-volatile memory 1011. The one or moremicroprocessors 1005 are coupled to optional cache 1004. The one or moremicroprocessors 1005 may retrieve stored computer programs instructionsfrom one or more of the non-transitory memories 1007, 1009 and 1011 andexecute the instructions to perform operations described above. Thesememories represent examples of machine readable non-transitory storagemedia that can store or contain computer program instructions which whenexecuted cause a data processing system to perform the one or moremethods described herein. The bus 1003 interconnects these variouscomponents together and also interconnects these components 1005, 1009and 1011 to a display controller and display device 1013 and toperipheral devices such as input/output (I/O) devices 1015 which may beone or more of sensors (such as the sensors 206), mice, touch screens,touch pads, touch sensitive input devices, keyboards, dedicated keys(e.g. buttons for volume or mute or home, etc.) modems, networkinterfaces, Bluetooth radio systems, printers and other devices whichare well known in the art. Typically, the input/output devices 1015 arecoupled to the system through input/output controllers 1017 as is knownin the art. The volatile RAM (Random Access Memory) 1009 is typicallyimplemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) which requires power continually inorder to refresh or maintain the data in the memory.

The mass storage 1011 is typically a magnetic hard drive or a magneticoptical drive or an optical drive or a DVD RAM or a flash memory orother types of memory system which maintain data (e.g., large amounts ofdata) even after power is removed from the system. Typically the massstorage 1011 will also be a random access memory although this is notrequired. While FIG. 10 shows that the mass storage 1011 is a localdevice coupled directly to the rest of the components in the dataprocessing system, it will be appreciated that one or more embodimentsmay utilize a non-volatile memory which is remote from the system, suchas a network storage device which is coupled to the data processingsystem through a network interface such as a modem, an Ethernetinterface or a wireless network. The bus 1003 may include one or morebuses connected to each other through various bridges, controllersand/or adapters as is well known in the art.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of personal informationdata (such as health data collected by one or more watches), in thepresent technology, can be used to the benefit of users. For example,the personal information data can be used to deliver health relatedinformation or targeted content that is of greater interest to the user.Accordingly, use of such personal information data can enable calculatedcontrol of the delivered content. Further, other uses for personalinformation data that benefit the user are also contemplated by thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure further contemplates that the entitiesresponsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage,or other use of such personal information data will comply withwell-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. Inparticular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacypolicies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting orexceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personalinformation data private and secure. For example, personal informationfrom users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of theentity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further,such collection should occur only after receiving the informed consentof the users. Additionally, such entities would take any needed stepsfor safeguarding and securing access to such personal information dataand ensuring that others with access to the personal information dataadhere to their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entitiescan subject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify theiradherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof health information or advertisement delivery services, the presenttechnology can be configured to allow users to select to “opt in” or“opt out” of participation in the collection of personal informationdata during registration for services. In another example, users canselect not to provide location information for targeted content deliveryservices. In yet another example, users can select to not provideprecise location information, but permit the transfer of location zoneinformation. In yet another example, users can select not to providepertinent health information such as weight, personal characteristics,traits, etc.

In the foregoing specification, specific exemplary embodiments have beendescribed. It will be evident that various modifications may be made tothose embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scopeset forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are,accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than arestrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A first wearable device that is paired with acompanion device that is also paired with a second wearable device, thesecond wearable device having been worn during a first time period thatprecedes a second time period, the first wearable device comprising: oneor more sensors; a display; a memory; a radio transceiver configured towirelessly communicate with the companion device; and a processingsystem coupled to the one or more sensors and to the display and to thememory and to the radio transceiver, the processing system is configuredto receive through the radio transceiver during the second time period afirst value from the companion device, wherein the first value indicatesan aspect of a physical activity event and the first value was derivedfrom data collected by the second wearable device during the first timeperiod, and the processing system is configured to compare a secondvalue stored in the memory to the first value and is configured todetermine a merged value based on the comparison and is configured tostore the merged value in the memory.
 2. The first wearable device as inclaim 1 wherein the first wearable device is one of a watch or an audioaccessory or a visual accessory and wherein the aspect is a duration ofthe physical activity event which is defined by physical data collectedby the one or more sensors.
 3. The first wearable device as in claim 2wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of: anaccelerometer; a gyroscope; a heart rate sensor; or a pulse sensor. 4.The first wearable device as in claim 3 wherein the duration is a streakand the first wearable device and the second wearable devicecumulatively count the streak across both the first and the second timeperiods.
 5. The first wearable device as in claim 4 wherein the mergedvalue is determined based on a merger strategy for a type of thephysical activity event; and wherein the processing system is configuredto notify a user of an achievement based on the duration exceeding anachievement goal.
 6. A machine implemented method comprising: receiving,at a wearable device in a first worn state, a first value from acompanion device, wherein the first value indicates an aspect of aphysical activity event and the first value was derived from datacollected by another wearable device in a prior worn state occurring ata time different from and prior to the first worn state; comparing thefirst value to a second value stored on the wearable device; determininga merged value based on the comparing; and storing the merged value onthe wearable device.
 7. The method as in claim 6 wherein the mergedvalue is a counter value and the aspect is a duration of the physicalactivity event.
 8. The method as in claim 7 wherein the physicalactivity event is defined by physical data collected by one or moresensors; and wherein each event has an associated type; and wherein theduration is streak and the wearable device and the another wearabledevice cumulatively count the streak across both the first worn stateand the prior worn state.
 9. The method as in claim 8, wherein themethod further comprises: incrementing the counter value on the wearabledevice in response to the collection of data, the incrementingindicating that the duration of the physical activity event hasincreased.
 10. The method as in claim 9, wherein the method furthercomprises: notifying a user of an achievement based on the durationexceeding an achievement goal.
 11. The method as in claim 6, the methodfurther comprising: removing duplicate notifications of an achievement;notifying a user of the achievement based on the aspect exceeding anachievement goal; wherein the removing of duplicate notificationsprevents a second notification of the achievement.
 12. The method as inclaim 8, the method further comprising: resetting the counter value toan initial value when the determining of the merged value indicates thestreak was broken.
 13. The method as in claim 8 wherein the physicalactivity event has an associated type and wherein the determining of themerged value uses a merger strategy that is based on the associatedtype; wherein the associated type is one of: streaks; bests; first seenvalues; or streak resets; and wherein the merger strategy is one of:largest wins for streaks and bests; smallest wins for first seen values;or remote wins for streak resets.
 14. The method as in claim 6 whereinthe wearable device is a watch or an audio accessory or visual accessoryand one or more sensors include one or more of: an accelerometer; agyroscope; a heart rate sensor; or a pulse sensor.
 15. A non-transitorymachine readable medium storing executable program instructions whichwhen executed by a data processing system cause the data processingsystem to perform a method comprising: receiving, at a wearable devicein a first worn state, a first value from a companion device, whereinthe first value indicates an aspect of a physical activity event and thefirst value was derived from data collected by another wearable devicein a prior worn state occurring at a time different from and prior tothe first worn state; comparing the first value to a second value storedon the wearable device; determining a merged value based on thecomparing; and storing the merged value on the wearable device.
 16. Themedium as in claim 15 wherein the merged value is a counter value andthe aspect is a duration of the physical activity event.
 17. The mediumas in claim 16 wherein the physical activity event is defined byphysical data collected by one or more sensors; and wherein each eventhas an associated type; and wherein the duration is streak and thewearable device and the another wearable device cumulatively count thestreak across both the first worn state and the prior worn state. 18.The medium as in claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:incrementing the counter value on the wearable device in response to thecollection of data, the incrementing indicating that the duration of thephysical activity event has increased.
 19. The medium as in claim 18,wherein the method further comprises: notifying a user of an achievementbased on the duration exceeding an achievement goal.
 20. The medium asin claim 15, the method further comprising: removing duplicatenotifications of an achievement; notifying a user of the achievementbased on the aspect exceeding an achievement goal; wherein the removingof duplicate notifications prevents a second notification of theachievement.
 21. The medium as in claim 17, the method furthercomprising: resetting the counter value to an initial value when thedetermining of the merged value indicates the streak was broken.
 22. Themedium as in claim 17 wherein the physical activity event has anassociated type and wherein the determining of the merged value uses amerger strategy that is based on the associated type; wherein theassociated type is one of: streaks; bests; first seen values; or streakresets; and wherein the merger strategy is one of: largest wins forstreaks and bests; smallest wins for first seen values; or remote winsfor streak resets.
 23. The medium as in claim 15 wherein the wearabledevice is a watch or an audio accessory or visual accessory and one ormore sensors include one or more of: an accelerometer; a gyroscope; aheart rate sensor; or a pulse sensor.